Aquarium Ads Receive Award

For its advertising campaign titled “Sea Spectacular”—featuring billboard-sized images of irresistible otters, shifty octopuses and “binge-watch”-worthy sea jellies—the Oregon Coast Aquarium won the 2016 Max Award for Print Advertising, presented by the American Marketing Association of Portland (AMA PDX) on September 22. The Max Award for Print Advertising recognizes “published print ads in periodicals, flyers and billboards on the local, national and international level that drive real world results,” according to AMA PDX’s website.

Grady Britton, the advertising agency behind “Sea Spectacular”, focused the campaign on creating bold, eye-catching spreads that highlighted the Aquarium’s core values: presenting top-notch exhibits and quality interpretation, creating unique and engaging experiences for visitors to the Oregon Coast and providing family-friendly entertainment. “In short, we wanted to inspire people to become marine ambassadors,” said Grady Britton in a summary of the project. “We developed an integrated campaign that utilized highly visible print, billboard, and transit placements that brought the wonder of the Aquarium’s animals to people along the routes from Portland to Newport.”

The agency’s 10 distinct advertisements reached approximately 85 percent of the target audience—meaning that millions of people saw the larger-than-life sea jellies, sea otters and octopuses on their commutes and in magazines and newspapers. “The large scale [of the advertisements] allowed the animals’ every quirk and fascinating detail to be shown in big, bold color, with smart headlines that appealed to many age ranges,” continued the agency’s summary. “We are thrilled to receive recognition for this campaign,” said Lance Beck, Director of Marketing at the Aquarium. “The collaboration between Grady Britton and our team at the Aquarium truly culminated in a clever and edgy final product that we were very pleased with.”

AMA PDX is a part of the National AMA, which is one of the largest and most prestigious associations of professional marketers in the world. The American Marketing Association is the professional association for individuals and organizations involved in the practice, teaching and study of marketing worldwide.